


To Sleep With a Prayer for the Beloved in Your Heart

by delcatty_got_your_tongue



Category: Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: Childhood Friends, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Leon can't stop crying, M/M, Raihan Spends Most Of His Life In Love With Leon, That's it that's the plot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-04
Updated: 2020-03-04
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:02:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,545
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23015218
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/delcatty_got_your_tongue/pseuds/delcatty_got_your_tongue
Summary: Five times Leon needed Raihan's help(and one time when Raihan needed Leon's)
Relationships: Dande | Leon/Kibana | Raihan
Comments: 10
Kudos: 211





	To Sleep With a Prayer for the Beloved in Your Heart

**Author's Note:**

> I make zero claims to originality. 
> 
> Edit: Came back and fixed the italics which were eaten up by A03.

_“Love has no other desire but to fulfill itself. But if to love and must needs have desires, let these be your desires: to melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night. To know the pain of too much tenderness. To be wounded by your own understanding of love; and to bleed willingly and joyfully. To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving; to rest at noon and meditate love's ecstasy; to return home at eventide with gratitude; and then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in your heart and a song of praise upon your lips.”_

_― Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet_

_i_

Raihan hadn't expected to find anyone when wandering around his training spot around Lake Miloch, let alone trip over a pipsqueak still a few years off from puberty. (Raihan has just finished a growth spurt, and still isn't used to his new legs and feet.) The pipsqueak in question is hiccuping the way small children do when they are doing their best not to cry. 

"Hey," he says after dusting himself off and doing a cursory check that he hasn't visited any major harm on the boy. "What's wrong?" 

The kid - who can't be older than ten and is therefore a small child to his wise twelve-year-old self - turns to him with wide gold eyes and _bawls._

"I've been lost for three days and 'm outta potions and antidotes and my Charmander is going to _die_ please can you help - "

"Woah okay, slow down." Raihan is just relieved that the boy isn't complaining that he's gotten an arm broken or something. 

Then something registers. 

"Wait, did you just say that you've been lost for three days?" 

The boy nods, fat tears still dripping off his round face. 

"Okay." They aren't that far from Motostoke, honestly - if you squinted you could see the city walls from a distance. Raihan makes a mental note to make sure the boy is looked at by a counsellor once he drops him off at a Pokémon Center. He drops his bag to the ground and begins rummaging in it for his berry stash. 

"What's your name, kid?" 

"Leon." 

"You said your Charmander is poisoned, yeah?" 

The boy sniffs. "Yeah." 

"Right." He pulls out Pecha and Sitrus berries. "You can let your Pokémon out now." 

Another sniff. Then a flash of red light and shit, yeah the Charmander's not in a good state. He passes the berries over to Leon - "Get the Pecha berries in him first, no, the _other_ berry" - and then searches his bag some more for potions while half keeping an eye on the Charmander. There are nasty gashes all over one side, and a cut over his face that is infected with pus. He finally finds a potion bottle and crouches down next to the injured Pokémon The Charmander growls and curls its tail closer to itself. 

"It's okay Charlie," the boy says soothingly. "He's here to help." 

Raihan raises a hand slowly to the Charmander - Charlie - to let him sniff. When his hand remains intact, he eases closer. "I'm just going to spray down your wounds," he says slowly and loudly. The Charmander tenses at first when the liquid makes contact with its wounds, then relaxes as its skin begins to knit over. Like magic, the swelling of the infection goes down and away. 

"You saved him!" Leon throws himself onto Raihan and flings his arms around his neck, and if Raihan wasn't already crouched down he thinks he would fall over from the force of the hug. He ruffles the boy's hair, absently wondering how the kid isn’t any more traumatised from wandering around the Wild Area all by himself. 

“Let’s get you both to Motostoke, shall we?” Raihan says gently. Leon doesn’t say anything but tightens his hold on Raihan's neck.

“Hey kid? I’m going to need you to let go.” 

The hands around him loosen just enough for him breathe. 

Raihan takes the kid's hands and gently massage them until they ease enough for him to slip them off his neck. They move down and clamp onto his hands like a vice grip. He takes back what he thought about the kid's mental state. 

"My name's Raihan," he says. "Do you want to meet my Trapinch?" 

He feels Leon nod against his side. 

"Okay, I'm going to need you to let go of my hands - _one_ of my hands - " he adds when Leon starts to shake. "So I can get my Trapinch's Pokéball. Okay?" 

Both tiny hands clamp on his left hand now, and it takes a minute but he gets his Trapinch out. (Is this what it's like to be an older brother? He thanks all the deities that he's an only child.)

"This is Dustdevil. Dustdevil, meet Leon and Charlie.” 

The Trapinch sniffs at the trainer and his Pokémon, then makes a little sound of satisfaction. 

“He’s a lot bigger than in the books!” Leon moves towards to examine the Pokémon closely.

“Yeah, he’s almost a Vibrana now! We’re going to make it to the Championships this year, I know it!” 

Leon’s starry-eyed. “The Championships! Are you a Challenger?” 

“You betcha.”

“Me too! I’m supposed to go after the Motostoke gym next!” 

Huh. The kid's a bit young for that, and he wonders for a moment which crazy parent let their crybaby of a ten-year-old out wandering the wilds. He shoves that down and thinks he'll ask later. 

“Is that right? Why don’t you tell me about your adventures so far?" 

Raihan takes Leon's hand and doesn't let go until they reach Motostoke. 

_ii_

Raihan is almost vibrating with excitement as he walks back to the locker room. 

He has a place in the finals! He's _this close_ to getting to the Champion himself! Nothing is going to ruin this for him!

Then he walks into the locker room to find Leon sobbing into his hands. 

"Oh." Arceus. "Leon, what's wrong?" 

"I can't do it," Leon says when he finally pauses for breath. 

"Do what?" Did he step into some kind of a practical joke? "Lee, we both have a place in the Finals! There's nothing to do but show up and kick ass tomorrow!" 

Leon just wails louder. 

" _I can't do it._ " 

"Look." He sits down next to the boy and pulls him close, tucking him under his chin the way he's learnt to whenever Leon cries - because of the raging Haxorus crashing through the underbrush outside their tents, because there's a lightning storm in the Wild Area and Raihan's gone riding on his Flygon, because Raihan ate the last slice of cake. (Leon cries for a lot of reasons but Raihan holding him always makes him stop.) 

Leon snuggles closer, and his sobs begin to quieten down. Raihan pats his back, and his eyes fall onto the phone on the bench. 

Oh. 

The headlines of the gossip rag Leon has been reading is very clear. He can't even begin to imagine what the comment section must be like - which of course, Leon's probably already scrolled through and knows by heart by now. 

"Leon." 

A hiccup. "Yeah?"

"Who cares what the fu - uh, the fork these people think! You're a trainer. You're the one here while they're in the sidelines writing their stupid articles!"

"But what if they're right?" 

Raihan can feel Leon still shaking with silent sobs and realises he's not his usual level of baby-Leon-scared-of-the-world. The boy is _terrified._

(A part of him thinks about visiting a certain paper's office with his newly evolved Goodra and letting the Pokémon do its own sticky gooey thing. It's far less likely to get him thrown in jail than telling Goodra to Draco Meteor the shit out of the building.) 

"Okay." Raihan is very aware that every word coming out of his mouth this very moment is going to deeply affect Leon. He can't - he _mustn't_ \- fuck up. 

"Okay," he says again. "Say they're right, and you somehow managed to luck your way through eight gyms. Say every one of the gym leaders was having an off day - which we both know is absolute fu - forking Mudbray shit because Opal was an absolute lunatic to beat. What are you going to do now, champ? Quit?" 

He eases the smaller boy off him and looks at him in the eye, so Leon knows he's serious. 

"Are you going to turn in your badges? Tell the League - _no please sir I don't deserve them_ _so let someone else take my place?_ Who? The trainer you just beat out just now?" 

" _No!_ " 

"And why's that?" 

"Because I earned those badges! I fought for them!" 

"So did the trainer you met on the field just now," Raihan teases. 

Leon's face is very red. "She used a Gossifleur against Charlie! _Why_ would you do that?" 

"Right. So did you deserve to win that match?" 

Leon's hands clutch themselves into tiny fists on Raihan's shirt. "Yes!" 

"Do you deserve to be in the finals?" 

"Yes!" 

"Good boy. Now let's get out of here, because I'm starving and I wanna celebrate how amazing we both are." 

Leon throws himself onto Raihan again and gives him a hug. 

"Thanks Rai," he says. "I know we're rivals and all, but you're my best friend too." 

Raihan doesn't know how to tell Leon that being rivals probably won't involve all the one-sided pep talks their relationship constantly seems to go back to, but Leon had gotten into his head that all Champions have a rival to call their own and he decided all on his own that Raihan would be his. Raihan had let him, and just felt honoured to have Leon by his side. 

Leon is bright and strong and brilliant. He might not be Champion tomorrow, but Raihan knows he will be, one day.

So Raihan doesn't hold it against Leon when they draw each other in the pitch in the semifinals and Leon proceeds to soundly trounce him on national television. And when Leon wins the Championship, he's the first on the pitch to hold up the boy and hug him tight. 

_iii_

Raihan knows he's nursed a crush on Leon for something like half a decade now.

He's not quite sure when it started. When he went from cheering Leon on the sidelines and teasing him about crazy fans and inappropriate art he's spotted online, to realising that yeah, he kind of gets where they're coming from because he'd do anything for Leon too. 

He also knows that since he'd known the man since he was a ten-year-old boy, any attempt at confessing his feelings would just be considered creepy. So he's resolved to never saying anything about his feelings. He'll just keep it bottled away. Keep supporting him like the good friend he is. Go out for dinner every once in a while, wait always for the other shoe to drop when Leon announces he's actually seeing someone who hasn't watched over him since he was ten-years-old. He'll show up at the wedding and smile and then maybe break a mountain down in the Wild Area afterwards. 

(Dragons are protective. None of his will share their toys with anyone else, not even his Flygon and Goodra, who have known each other almost as long as he's known Leon now.) 

So he'll keep a lid on his feelings. He won't say shit. 

Which means that when Leon bangs on his door at an ungodly hour in the morning, he answers and lets him in instead of throwing him out onto the street like the little shit deserves. 

"I can't do this," Leon says the second he steps in. 

(The first thing Leon had said when Raihan had opened the door was _Rai_ and _help_ and Rai had let him in immediately even though he's got to be up in three hours to speak to the Hammerlocke city council and his shoulder is still killing him from the fall off his Flygon he took in training earlier because of the sandstorm he was flying in and fuck he's got it bad but Leon's his best friend, what is he supposed to say, no?)

"Do what?" Raihan asks, wondering if he missed something because of his inner monologuing. 

Leon gestures into empty space, as though it should be immediately obvious. "This. Being a Champion. All of this."

Raihan scratches his head. "Leon, you've been Champion for eight years now. I'm pretty sure if anyone's able to write a book about being a Champion and being good at it, it'd be you."

"It's different now," Leon insists. 

"Different how?" 

Leon slumps on his usual spot on Raihan's couch and Raihan tries not to think _since when did Leon have a spot on his couch?_

"I'm eighteen, for one." 

"So?" 

"So my mom used to be my manager and made sure I had time for things like school and family and stuff and now Rose and Olenna have taken over my life." Leon buries his head in his hands. "And now I can't sleep unless they let me, because they write my schedule. I'm always at a shoot, or a meeting with a sponsor, who's usually some old fuck who's just looking to get their paws onto me at some point in the night. The only off time I get is when I beg off and go train because they can't have their Champion battling like anything less than his best." 

Raihan's brain is still trying to process words. " _Language_ , Leon," he says automatically, and that even sounds convincingly disapproving to his own ears even though a part of him is trying to focus on the fact that Leon has just casually mentioned that he's being offered up like a piece of meat so he can close business deals. 

Leon looks up from his hands to shoot him an incredulous look. "Really? You've been cursing in front of me for years." 

"Yeah, that doesn't make it any less weird when you do." It is illegal to kill people. It is illegal to kill people. 

"Rai? Are you okay?" 

"Yeah, why?" 

"Only you look like you're about to explode." 

Raihan sits on the couch next to Leon and pulls him in for a hug. (He tries not to dwell on the fact that even though Leon's finally caught up in height he still fits under his chin. And while hugs always make Leon stop crying, they also make Raihan stop wanting to break things.) 

"Okay," he finally says. "How are you feeling about dealing with sleazy business people?" 

Leon shifts in his arms. "It's not that bad, really," he mumbles. "I'm learning to manage them, and they don't really do anything serious." 

"Uh huh." He decides not to press this one for now. "So quit then. Step down as Champion." 

Leon gasps and turns to him. "I can't do that!"

"Why not? You've been telling me how much you hate it." 

"But it's not fair!" 

"Hey, I could get you a spot as a trainer in my gym." 

Leon sticks out his tongue, like an actual ten-year-old. "You can try, and I'll be schooling you on dragons before you know it." 

He would. Leon can do anything he sets his mind to. 

It's funny how Raihan has never once felt bitter about that fact. 

"Why do you want to stay Champion, Lee?" 

Leon huffs and slides back against Raihan's chest. 

"Because I'm good at it." 

_You're good at everything,_ Raihan wants to say. He swallows that and says instead "That's not a reason. And you know now being Champion isn't just about being good at battling." 

"Yeah, but I'm good at the other parts too, Rai." Leon sighs, and Raihan feels it shake his chest. "I'm good at hobnobbing with the rich and convincing them to give money to charities. I'm good at meeting people and showing them they can chase after their dreams. And I have my own right? I want to inspire a whole new generation of trainers in Galar. I want to show that we can be the best in the world." 

"You've already inspired people," Raihan says automatically, and then blushes when he realises he'd said it aloud. "I mean, it's not your job to do these things, as great as they sound." 

"Yeah, but it's what I want to. And if I don't, who will?" Leon seems to realise his mistake the second the words are out. "I mean, I think you'll be amazing at the job too Rai! You inspire people all the time!" 

"Yeah, to wank off maybe." Raihan laughs as Leon flushes harder. 

"It's true though. I wouldn't be as good about those things as you, because I never cared about those things." 

Raihan's never cared about being Champion. He's self-aware enough about that. He'd only ever wanted to beat Leon.

(No. He'd only ever wanted Leon's sights focused on him, which only happened when they were battling, and Leon isn't thinking about the world.)

"You're an amazing Gym Leader, Rai," Leon says softly. Raihan inhales slowly and evenly so Leon won't realise how fast his heart is beating. 

"Well, if you decide to step down, you know I'll support you," Raihan finally says. "For what it's worth, I think you make a great Champ." 

"Thanks, Rai," Leon beams even as he wipes the tears from his eyes. "It really means a lot to me to hear that." 

Raihan opens his mouth to say _No problem, mate_ like a normal human being and instead feels his heart trip past his lips. 

Fuck. 

_iv_

Raihan knows that Leon's lost the battle before anyone else does. Maybe because he's been in Leon's shoes more times than he can count. 

So he's looking when Leon's lip trembles - like he's a ten-year-old lost in the Wild Area again. He sees how his hands shake. And he knows how the bright grin he gives to the cameras is still real, even though Leon's breaking apart inside. 

He's in the locker room when Leon finally comes in, after hours spent with the reporters. He lets Leon cry on his shoulder until he runs out of tears, then he tucks him under his chin and folds him into his body. 

Leon's been the Champion half his life. Raihan knows who Leon is, under the Champion title. He knows Leon doesn't. 

_v_

After the Championships, Leon moves into Raihan's apartment and won't get out of Raihan's hair. Raihan complains, but they both know he doesn't mind at all. 

Especially when Leon's got it into his head that Raihan needs a balanced diet and regularly whips up stupidly delicious meals while wearing an apron in his kitchen. While singing. Leon's in his space all the time and it's wonderful and Raihan just wants to die because he still can't tell the man that he's known since they were children that he wants him to stay there forever. 

"Hey, can you reach that jar up on the shelf over there?" 

"If you weren't such a midget, you could reach it yourself."

"And what would I keep you around for then?" 

Silence. 

Raihan realises he really doesn't know why Leon stays sometimes. He's always waiting for the other shoe to drop, for Leon to realise that he's in love with him and for Leon to run away in the other direction as hard as he can.

Like he knows what's going on in Raihan's brain, Leon pads over to him, wearing an old shirt and sweatpants of his that are both too big and he still manages to look good. 

But that is Leon. He wears the world around him like he did his stupid cape - it shouldn't work but he still manages to do so with such grace. 

"Hey, Rai? You know that I keep you around for more things than a human step ladder, right?" Leon's voice is very quiet. 

Rai's laugh feels rusty in his own chest. "Yeah I know, Lee." 

"Good. Because you're my best friend in the whole world and - " Oh Lord, Leon's crying now. "I really wouldn't know what I'd do if I didn't have you." 

"Leon - " 

"I'm a fuck up. I know." 

"You're not a fuck up - " 

"I can't achieve anything I want to do - " 

"You were Champion for ten years - "

"I wanted to protect Galar, to protect _you!_ " Leon's eyes are blazing the way they do in the heat of battle. "I'm not just some dumb kid who can't find my way out of the Wild Area! But I couldn't - I had to let a kid deal with Rose, with Eternatus, I couldn't do anything - " 

Raihan's long learnt the best way to shut off Leon's brain is to hold him so that is what he does. Like every time, Leon goes quiet and very still. 

"Leon, love - " The words are out of his mouth before they register in his brain and he can't take them back now. But sometimes there are more important things than his fear that he'll screw their friendship up. 

(Raihan knows he has to be careful with everything he says as it will probably affect whatever it is Leon chooses to do next. But this time, he can't be arsed, he just knows that Leon needs to know the truth. Or Raihan's truth. Whatever.)

"You're not a fuck up, Lee," Raihan says firmly. He tries to put his heart into every one of his words. Leon needs to know how important he is. "Even when all you did was cry as a kid. Because you cried and then you got up and you did whatever scared you anyway.

"And you have your dreams and your visions for Galar. You're not just a Champion because you're good at battling. You really care for things, and for people. I've seen the way you talk to your fans and you know their names. You're the most amazing person I know." 

Leon's trembling still, but he's not wailing anymore. Raihan hopes it's a good thing and prays that everything he's said has gotten through. 

"You're still dumb kid who'll find a way to get lost in a straight corridor though." 

Leon huffs against his neck, but doesn't protest. 

_vi_

Leon moves out to Wyndon shortly after that and busies himself with setting up the Battle Tower at the old Rose Tower. He's all over the screens now, and yes he remembers to text Raihan every day, and even sends the occasional blurry selfie. 

Raihan tries to pretend that it's not driving him insane.

He wonders if he went too far. If Leon had guessed, and he's completely ruined their friendship now. 

So he turns to his gym. To his city. 

(He has so much to fix now that the Chairman of their sole source of power is in jail for attempting to destroy the entire country, and said power source has turned out to be a sentient being that is now an overgrown pet for their new battle-hungry Champion. He runs his trainers ragged. He starts thinking now about a successor, now that there isn't a Leon to beat.)

Then Leon finally invites him over to his newly renovated apartment, telling him it's finally decent enough to have guests over. 

It's more than decent. It's got high ceilings and a living room large enough to have his Pokémon play in comfortably. The decor's surprisingly tasteful, and he wonders how much the interior designer had to fight to dissuade Leon from his stranger ideas. Then he wanders into the kitchen and has to ask "Does your kitchen actually have a Charizard themed decor going on?" 

It's not bad really. She's kept the orange and yellows largely concentrated on an accent wall next to the fridge, and the wood trimmings are a warm brown that makes everything feel homey. It's a place that he can see Leon spending hours in, singing while wearing an apron and feeding snacks to his Charizard. 

Leon tugs his cap lower over his head and Raihan knows he's blushing. 

"I didn't mean it in a bad way," Raihan tries to backpedal. He wants to smack himself - how does he manage to say the wrong thing after months of going without seeing Leon? He is going to get kicked out, and this time Leon wouldn't be texting or sending him frustratingly out of focus photos. 

"I know you didn't," Leon says, and he's reaching out to him to pull him down - and oh he's always known how well Leon fit in his arms, he didn't think it would work the other way round too. 

"I missed you, Lee." 

"I called and texted you every day!" 

" 's not the same. You just up and left - " Raihan's aware he's shaking now, and his vision is blurring and - oh. 

"I didn't realise you were going to cry just 'cos I went away for a little while." 

"I didn't know _why_ , I thought you were mad at me, why did you _leave?_ " 

"I had to, Rai." Leon uses his large, warm, maddeningly soothing hand to soothe his back, the same movements Raihan has used to coax Leon out of his crying fits for years. "I needed to figure out who I was. Outside of being a Champion." 

Raihan snorts. It's a wetter sound than he would like. "Could have done it at my place." 

"I needed to know who I was away from you too." 

" _Why_?"

"I've been relying on you for too long, Rai." 

_I want you to rely on me forever._

Raihan knows that now would be the best time to talk about the years of bottled up feelings he has for Leon stored somewhere between his lungs and his kidneys. (It started in his chest, like a normal person but it just keeps expanding in his body.) 

But he can't bring himself to. He's spent too many years not talking about it. 

And even though Leon has always been the crybaby between, he's never lacked the courage to do the things he's afraid to do. 

"Hey, Rai?"

"I love you." Leon says the words simply, and beams. 

Of course he does. Leon loves everyone and everything 

Then Leon leans over and kisses Raihan on the lips. It's over before his brain has even processed what is happening, and he would have thought he'd imagined it if Leon wasn't also blushing and blinking as he looks away. 

"Oh," he says stupidly.

"I know it's really weird, we've known each other for so long and I don't know when I started - I. But I love you. I think I always have. And you've always been there for me and I love you for that and I want to be strong for you too. And I guess I should have asked before I kissed you but I thought that you liked me back and I - " Leon's babbling now, the way he does when he panics. " _Please_ Rai I don't want to lose you - " 

Raihan leans down and kisses Leon. It turns out it's just as effective at shutting Leon up as holding him is. 

"Lee?" 

"Yeah?" 

"Love you too." 

Raihan takes hold of Leon's hand, and he does not let go. 

**Author's Note:**

> I really needed to write something short and fluffy because as much as I love working on the huge angst-ridden mystery abounding adventure-seeking project that will eat up the next few months of my life that is the [The Rose of Galar](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21936781/chapters/52356070) I needed a break. (Is this me plugging my own writing, why yes it is you should totally check it out.) 
> 
> But also, Rai/Leon forever.


End file.
